Feasibility of amending the anti-trafficking law
Recently, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen wrote to Law Minister Anisul Huq regarding the alleged abuse of certain provisions of the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act 2012.
The 2012 Act confers upon law enforcement agents the power to "conduct preventive search, to enter into any premises and to seize any equipment or proof or document used or likely to be used in the commission of any offence". The Act also states that such search may be conducted without a warrant if the officers have reasonable grounds to believe that there are equipment or materials in any place which can be used for the commission of offences.
In his letter, the Foreign Minister raised concerns regarding "conflicting provision" between the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act 2012 and the Overseas Employment and Migrants Act 2013, and opined that such conflict creates obstacles in the lawful export of manpower.
The minister also stated that legal recruiting agencies are "not at all involved in human trafficking or fraudulent activities". He further requested the law minister to "partially amend" section 20(1) and (2) of the 2012 Act.
However, global reports have found that there is a close link between recruitment practices and human trafficking. Apart from illegal recruitment agencies, legal and licensed recruitment agencies may also be involved in illegal practices and may engage in fraudulent practices such as lying about the nature of the job and salaries, charging extortionately high recruitment fees etc.
In fact, recruitment practices may fall within the definition of trafficking in persons as laid out by the UN in the Trafficking in Persons Protocol.
The Protocol defines trafficking using three elements -- an act, a means and a purpose. So, if recruitment (an act) is done through fraudulent or deceptive means (retention of passports, charging high fees, misrepresenting nature or work or wages) for the purposes of exploitation, it shall qualify as trafficking by international standards.
Due to the complexity in the system, it is difficult to identify trafficking at the recruitment stage. Although Bangladeshi embassies did not identify the cases as trafficking, NGOs involved in repatriation of the 1,250 female migrant workers returning to Bangladesh in 2019 identified indicators of trafficking.
In Bangladesh, trafficking for labour exploitation is a pressing concern. The US Department of Justice's 2020 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons highlighted past instances where foreign and Bangladeshi recruitment agencies bribed government officials and politicians to maintain monopoly over the labour market and stated that government officials may not be fully committed to implementing migrant-friendly practices due to conflict of interests.
Earlier this year, Kazi Shahid, a Bangladeshi member of parliament was arrested in Kuwait on charges of human trafficking and bribing Kuwaiti officials.
Corruption is addressed by Articles 8 and 9 of the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organised Crime, which requires States to adopt legislative measures to establish as crime, offences of corruption involving foreign public officials.
The government has shown increased implementation of the anti-trafficking law and has received praise for establishing seven tribunals for the prosecution of human trafficking offences.
However, concerns regarding the plight of migrant workers persist. It is important to identify the aspects of recruitment practices that result in the increased vulnerability of workers.
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